Han Dynasty watchtower in the Kumtag Desert, Northwestern China
A topic that is most important to anthropologists and archeologists who study cultures is civilization or complex society. Anthropologists organize human cultures today and throughout history into categories based off of a variety of different factors. One of the ways in which they attempt do this is by defining societies in terms of their complexity. Complexity, in this context, has to do with the sophistication of organization in a certain society. Things like government, food production, trade, warfare and so on. The exact definition of what constitutes a civilization has never been universally agreed upon. Early anthropologists were very rigid in their definitions of what did and did not represent a civilized society. Anthropologists today have learned through experience that not all complex societies fit the classical mold of places like Greece or Egypt.
When mentioning the word civilization, things like art, writing, architecture and high society are often foremost in most peoples' minds. The reality is that civilization has much more practical foundations. Art is beautiful and enchanting, but it doesn't fill stomachs--people need food and water to survive. This problem is only exacerbated to the extreme when dealing with the urban environments and high population densities that are ubiquitous to civilization. The ultimate solution to these problems is a reliable and constant source of fresh water. Not only can people drink fresh water, they can use it in agriculture to grow food and other consumables. Just about every single early society has roots in an area with a large source of water. River valleys are probably the most ideal places for civilizations to start. The earliest known civilizations are almost always associated with river valleys like the Indus River Valley or the Nile River Valley.
Today, civilization is everywhere. Even in the most remote and desolate regions of the world, people are living there who have adapted to environments that were toxic to early societies. The difference between civilizations like those mentioned in the previous paragraph and these "desolate" civilizations is that the latter is mostly the product of transplantation. Primitive peoples lacking the knowledge to adapt to extreme environments would obviously not flourish in an area devoid of water, for example. While many of the earliest civilizations started in deserted regions, they primarily centered around water sources. With the evolution of civilizations and the movement of ideas, societies began to emerge far away the typical locations into increasingly barren areas for a multitude of different reasons.
If one wanted to think of a place that would exemplify this barren landscape, they could almost do no better than to think of Central Asia. This is a very large geographical region extending from the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea to the deserts in Northern China and Mongolia. Central Asia has historically been very sparsely populated. People have lived there for thousands of years, but it its early history they lived in small numbers and with a distinct lack of the large population centers that are usually associated with civilization.1 Central Asia is mostly devoid of water sources. The two major biomes that make up Central Asia are deserts and grassland areas called steppes. Neither of these places are friendly to agriculture without outside irrigation. Without water and agriculture, there can be no creation of civilization, correct? Not necessarily.
Ruins in Merv, Turkmenistan
The ancient city of Merv, located in modern day Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, is said to have once had the largest population in the world around the 12th century AD.2 That is a fairly extraordinary claim for a region not known for its lush landscapes abundant with food sources. While Merv was indeed constructed around an oasis fed by the Murghab River, but that is certainly not the main reason why such a large and developed city existed. The simple answer as to why such a large population center would exist basically in the middle of nowhere is trade.
Modern Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Historically, Merv was an important stopping point along the vast network of trade routes running from China in the east to the Mediterranean in the west known as the Silk Road. Merv, along with many other cities like Bukhara in Uzbekistan and Khujand in Tajikistan, saw tremendous growth as a result of the trade routes that used them as major staging points.3 Caravans traveling both east and west along the silk road stopped in these cities to trade their goods or to rest before moving on. This in itself created an industry that encouraged people to settle and develop the cities further. Since trade is a very lucrative endeavor to both individual and society alike, people overcame the difficulties associated with living in such bleak, previously uninhabitable areas because it suited their economic needs.
Basic human needs will never change, people will always need water and food. There becomes a point, however, in a civilizations history that societal needs become increasingly important. Chinese civilization in the east and European/Middle Eastern civilization in the west evolved to a point where trade was of great importance. Both parties had goods that were desired by the other. The result of the partnership between the two cultures was the Silk Road, running directly through the deserts and steppes of Central Asia. While the civilization that existed in Central Asia was transplanted, there existed a mixture of different cultures that was unique in the world.
Trade is a subject worthy of investigation by anthropologists and archeologists in regards to its catalytic effect on society. Wars have been started, nations built and destroyed, technological advancements created and economic systems destroyed all in some way caused by the political and social ramifications of trading.
References Cited:
1. Kuz'mina, Elena. "The Prehistory of the Silk Road" University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008, pp 62.
2. http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm
3. Tucker, Jonathan. "The Silk Road: Art and History" Art Media Resources Ltd., 2003, pp. 212
Thesis: Trade as a force of civilization
A topic that is most important to anthropologists and archeologists who study cultures is civilization or complex society. Anthropologists organize human cultures today and throughout history into categories based off of a variety of different factors. One of the ways in which they attempt do this is by defining societies in terms of their complexity. Complexity, in this context, has to do with the sophistication of organization in a certain society. Things like government, food production, trade, warfare and so on. The exact definition of what constitutes a civilization has never been universally agreed upon. Early anthropologists were very rigid in their definitions of what did and did not represent a civilized society. Anthropologists today have learned through experience that not all complex societies fit the classical mold of places like Greece or Egypt.
When mentioning the word civilization, things like art, writing, architecture and high society are often foremost in most peoples' minds. The reality is that civilization has much more practical foundations. Art is beautiful and enchanting, but it doesn't fill stomachs--people need food and water to survive. This problem is only exacerbated to the extreme when dealing with the urban environments and high population densities that are ubiquitous to civilization. The ultimate solution to these problems is a reliable and constant source of fresh water. Not only can people drink fresh water, they can use it in agriculture to grow food and other consumables. Just about every single early society has roots in an area with a large source of water. River valleys are probably the most ideal places for civilizations to start. The earliest known civilizations are almost always associated with river valleys like the Indus River Valley or the Nile River Valley.
Today, civilization is everywhere. Even in the most remote and desolate regions of the world, people are living there who have adapted to environments that were toxic to early societies. The difference between civilizations like those mentioned in the previous paragraph and these "desolate" civilizations is that the latter is mostly the product of transplantation. Primitive peoples lacking the knowledge to adapt to extreme environments would obviously not flourish in an area devoid of water, for example. While many of the earliest civilizations started in deserted regions, they primarily centered around water sources. With the evolution of civilizations and the movement of ideas, societies began to emerge far away the typical locations into increasingly barren areas for a multitude of different reasons.
If one wanted to think of a place that would exemplify this barren landscape, they could almost do no better than to think of Central Asia. This is a very large geographical region extending from the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea to the deserts in Northern China and Mongolia. Central Asia has historically been very sparsely populated. People have lived there for thousands of years, but it its early history they lived in small numbers and with a distinct lack of the large population centers that are usually associated with civilization.1 Central Asia is mostly devoid of water sources. The two major biomes that make up Central Asia are deserts and grassland areas called steppes. Neither of these places are friendly to agriculture without outside irrigation. Without water and agriculture, there can be no creation of civilization, correct? Not necessarily.
The ancient city of Merv, located in modern day Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, is said to have once had the largest population in the world around the 12th century AD.2 That is a fairly extraordinary claim for a region not known for its lush landscapes abundant with food sources. While Merv was indeed constructed around an oasis fed by the Murghab River, but that is certainly not the main reason why such a large and developed city existed. The simple answer as to why such a large population center would exist basically in the middle of nowhere is trade.
Historically, Merv was an important stopping point along the vast network of trade routes running from China in the east to the Mediterranean in the west known as the Silk Road. Merv, along with many other cities like Bukhara in Uzbekistan and Khujand in Tajikistan, saw tremendous growth as a result of the trade routes that used them as major staging points.3 Caravans traveling both east and west along the silk road stopped in these cities to trade their goods or to rest before moving on. This in itself created an industry that encouraged people to settle and develop the cities further. Since trade is a very lucrative endeavor to both individual and society alike, people overcame the difficulties associated with living in such bleak, previously uninhabitable areas because it suited their economic needs.
Basic human needs will never change, people will always need water and food. There becomes a point, however, in a civilizations history that societal needs become increasingly important. Chinese civilization in the east and European/Middle Eastern civilization in the west evolved to a point where trade was of great importance. Both parties had goods that were desired by the other. The result of the partnership between the two cultures was the Silk Road, running directly through the deserts and steppes of Central Asia. While the civilization that existed in Central Asia was transplanted, there existed a mixture of different cultures that was unique in the world.
Trade is a subject worthy of investigation by anthropologists and archeologists in regards to its catalytic effect on society. Wars have been started, nations built and destroyed, technological advancements created and economic systems destroyed all in some way caused by the political and social ramifications of trading.
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References Cited:
1. Kuz'mina, Elena. "The Prehistory of the Silk Road" University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008, pp 62.
2. http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm
3. Tucker, Jonathan. "The Silk Road: Art and History" Art Media Resources Ltd., 2003, pp. 212